Finding Dasha
by t.j.guard
Summary: Zenon thought college and life were inky, but when a figure from her past kidnaps Dasha, it sets in motion a chain reaction which unravels secrets everyone thought could be kept buried forever. hints of PZ/Z
1. Chapter 1

Finding Dasha

Disclaimer: I don't own Zenon.

A/N: entirely separate from Z4, PZ/Z

Chapter One

Zenon walked quickly down the corridor, thumbing through pages of her z-book on her zap-pad, going over the things she'd highlighted. Eventually, she made it to class, only to find she was early, but nonetheless, she took her seat. Within the next few minutes, the rest of the class filed in, and at eight on the dot, Professor Jameson passed out the unit test, which was on a chip meant to be inserted into a zap-pad, and the class fell silent except for the clicks of chips into their slots and the beeps of people answering questions.

On average, the test took about an hour, but the more methodical students, or those who didn't study and consequently found the test challenging, took the whole hour and a half to complete the test, and when the last of them finished, the class was dismissed. The students erupted in chatter again as they filed out of the classroom, mostly complaining about how hard the test was, and Margie walked up to Zenon and asked, "Where's Proto Zoa been?"

"Recluse mode extreme, most likely," Zenon replied. "I think I know where, though."

Margie lowered her voice, even though she stood no risk of being heard over all the chatter in the corridor. "Nova Linda?"

"Affirmative."

"You know he only gets like that when he thinks his muse abandons him."

"Yeah, well, I'm clear minor about muses. That's why I'm taking Mythology this year."

"I bet you do know a thing or two about muses. After all, we all know he has a crush major on you."

"Had."

"What?"

"Had a crush major on me, then he decided to go out with that girl from Of All The Worlds."

Zenon sped up, her mind squarely on her destination, and Margie sped up just to catch up to her. "What girl? The one that plays the alien chick?"

"Affirmative."

"Well, I don't blame him. You had a crush major on Zoa and went and kissed Sage instead, and before that you went out with that Earth guy, and I know you thought about going with Orion."

Zenon stopped in her tracks and spun around one hundred eighty degrees. "For the record, Marge, the Earth guy, Greg, dumped me, Orion made it clear he wasn't interested ten years ago and still isn't, and Sage, don't get me started about Sage. Just don't." She made a second one hundred eighty degree turn and walked off.

"Okay, then," Margie said, walking into a classroom and taking her seat.

Zenon walked into a separate classroom and took a seat, fully prepared to take notes and equally prepared for the much-hoped-for mind-numbing movie. The latter turned out to be Professor Anisten's choice, and much of the class fell asleep during the documentary on the pantheon of Greek gods. Zenon found herself listening very closely to the section on the muses, however, which were said to inspire works of art and science.

She found herself surprised that the Greek moon goddess, who the book called Selene, was called Selena in the film and took the form Zenon barely remembered from seven years prior. Beyond that, however, the film ate up most of the class period uneventfully, and the class was dismissed to go to lunch.

Zenon met Nebula and Margie at their usual table in the space station's cafeteria, and Zenon scanned the crouded room, temporarily locking eyes with Orion before fully redirecting her attention to her tray. "Zee, you look inked out. What's wrong?" Nebula asked.

"It's minor, really," she replied, forking a bite of food with more ferocity than she intended. "College must be stressing me out major."

"Look, we all know college is inky," Margie said, "but this is rudicrous."

"Maybe it is a little rudicrous, but I swear that's it."

"Uh-huh, and I'm the tooth fairy," Nebula said, taking a drink from her glass of grapejuice. "Is it 'cause of Proto Zoa?"

"Hey, he abandoned me, remember?" Zenon snapped before she could stop herself.

"You abandoned him, too," Margie said. "Don't go nuclear on us because we're the voices of reason."

"My point is that it's my fault minor."

"Maybe minor, but definitely there."

"So what'd I do?"

"You kissed Sage," Nebula said. "That's what you did."

"I'm not the only girl he kissed, so I don't see what the problem is, Neb."

"My bet's Zoa saw it all and decided to hide out in Nova Linda, or he found out later somehow," Margie said. "Point is, you kissed Sage."

"The point is he's dating one of the actresses on Of All The Worlds, the one playing the alien girl. That's the point."

"The point is you're both jealous major," Nebula said. "What if we got you two together in a place where you could talk about how jealous major you both really are and where you can work through your issues together."

"That sounds so inky major I'd rather die first."

Nebula shrugged and returned her attention to her lunch. Margie was more reluctant, but she was also speechless. In time, she, too returned her attention to her lunch.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Proto Zoa's vision was blurred and he felt like he'd been pancaked between the Wonder Bus, or something equally large, and a solid concrete wall, so the blue, translucent form in front of him was barely visible and felt to him like a strange delusion or dream. He thought he saw the form move, and his vision cleared, but the form had vanished. He still felt like hell, but on the coffee table lay a half-empty bottle of wine, so he took a swig from it and set it back in its general location and lay back down on his couch, rubbing his eyes.

He felt himself dozing off, and he thought he saw the blue form return, though he could see more clearly now that it was the form of a woman with short black hair and dressed in a way he'd never seen before. "You're determined to stay in this haze, aren't you?" she asked, and she had a strange accent that was as unrecognizable to Proto Zoa as her dress.

"Who are you?" he mumbled.

"I'm probably the only one who can penetrate your haze right now, what with your incessant drinking."

"I feel like hell already. You don't need to make it worse."

"It's either this or an alcohol-induced coma. Your choice."

"I'd rather have the alcohol-induced coma right now given the choice." Proto Zoa adjusted his position and closed his eyes.

"I dunno if I can do comas," the woman said, waving a hand over Proto Zoa's head, "but I can do deep sleeps." She lowered her lips to her ear and whispered, "Dream, dream of what you want most of all."

Proto Zoa watched his memories unfold before his eyes as if he were dreaming the whole thing, starting with when he met Zenon, who'd won a contest and got the opportunity to meet him. The memories flowed through, and each was colored by Zenon, from when she was thirteen, winning against a space mogul who was intent on crashing his own space station, to when she was fifteen, insisting his song was being used as a signal by aliens, to when she was eighteen, evacuating the Moonstock settlement to protect the people from the wrath of the moon goddess Selena. The memories were played to the tune of Supernova Girl and then The Galaxy is Ours, which perfectly described Zenon, at least, in Proto Zoa's mind.

When he reached the end of this reel of memories, he slipped into a semi-awake state, but only for a moment before he realized he needed to throw up. Before he could think about it, he ran down to the bathroom, but the nausea passed by then. He collapsed against the wall and buried his face in his hands. The blue woman appeared again. "I knew it," she said, sitting on the floor and leaning back against the lower cabinet. "I knew that was what you wanted above all else."

"What good is it? She left me for some guy."

"And you left her as a consequence, as I recall."

"What are you, anyway? A freakish alien shrink?"

"Close. I'm Selena, and the dreams are a result of one of my tricks."

"You control dreams?"

"I prompt dreams, I can't control them."

"You see them, too?"

"I saw yours, only because you were so open, talking in your sleep about them."

"Oh, great. I can't keep quiet about anything."

"I just wasn't expecting the nausea, but perhaps that's an effect of the alcohol."

"I wasn't expecting to not need to throw up."

Selena floated to her feet and looked around. "I've gotta say I like your taste."

"Thank you."

"Well, phase one complete. Gotta be off now." Selena vanished in ribbons of blue mist.

Proto Zoa eventually pulled himself to his feet and stumbled through Nova Linda, barely thinking about where he was going or the state his hideaway was in. He collapsed on the couch in a sitting position, staring at the wads of notepaper he'd tossed about during the first few months. His eyes soon found their way to where his guitar lay on the floor, and a song flowed through his mind, one which entered his dream just minutes before.

He put his feet up on the coffee table and tilted his head back until it rested on the top of the sofa with a heavy sigh. He still felt like hell, but reaching for the wine bottle was the farthest thing from his mind.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Dasha lay on her front on her bed, her ankles crossed over her hips, moving her head in tune with one of the songs on Proto Zoa's most recent chip. Both of her parents were at work, leaving her free to turn up the stereo as loud as it would go.

The current song ended, and the next was a slow one, and as soon as Proto Zoa started singing, Dasha knew exactly who the song was about. "Oo, Zoa likes Zee," she said to herself, an ear-to-ear grin threatening to split her face into two pieces. Even so, she continued to move her head in tune with the music and sometimes tapped her feet to the music, as well.

"Vega omega," she said suddenly, propping herself up on her hands and knees. She reached over and turned off the stereo, picked up her zap-pad, and zapped her cousin, who answered almost immediately. "You heard Proto Zoa's last song?" Dasha asked.

"Negative. Why?"

Dasha turned her stereo back on and replayed the last song on Proto Zoa's chip, watching pain flash across Zenon's face, quickly replaced by a blank expression of quiet acceptance. "Good song," she said flatly.

"Zee, aren't you clear major? Zoa wrote that song about you, for you. He wanted you to hear it."

"I get that, but what's it matter now? He moved on."

"It doesn't sound like it."

Zenon rolled her eyes. "Dasha, I need to get back to my homework." The screen went blank and Dasha set her zap-pad back down on the nightstand, rolling her eyes as she reached over to turn off her stereo. She slipped out of bed and put the chip back in its package before walking out to the kitchen for a glass of water. When she walked back into the living room, on her way to her bedroom, she glimpsed a crate in the far corner. Gingerly, Dasha set her glass down on the coffee table and walked over to the crate.

On the surface, Dasha found only some old photographs of her when she was ten, with her new foster family, or new at the time, and the adoption docs that got her out of the foster system. She searched through the contents, removing them from the crate in neat stacks at its side. At the very bottom of the crate was the only paper document in the box. It was only yellowed slightly around the edges, but she still lifted it gingerly, keeping it even until she could get a good look at it. It was dated to May eleventh of twenty fourty-four, making it one of the last paper documents in history.

The rest of the document's text had all but faded completely, meaning the date must've been added later somehow, and no matter how hard Dasha tried, she couldn't make heads or tails of it, so she set it back in the crate just as gingerly as when she removed it. She stacked the pictures and docs on top of it, closed the crate and walked back to the coffee table, where she picked up her glass of water and took another sip, and she walked back into her bedroom.

ZZZ

Zenon turned off her zap-pad and lay back in her bed, setting it on the nightstand and running her fingers through her hair. She couldn't stop thinking about the song Dasha had played for her, Proto Zoa's. It was on most of the Top 40 satellite stations that often played in various parts of the space station and had been for over a month, and she never really paid attention, not until now, when her friends were taking notice of Proto Zoa's absence.

As usual, Zenon gave every inquiry the same response: "It's minor," or, "Sweat minor, it's fine."

Those were just the answers that, if said right, ensured that she didn't have to answer any more questions or have to talk about her feelings, feelings she was sure she could deal with on her own.

She slid her arms over her face so that they covered it almost completely, and she could feel herself dozing off, but she was startled out of this state by a voice she thought she'd never hear again. "You're in the same state he is."

Selena stood at the edge of Zenon's bed, staring down at the blond who was staring up at her, her shock fading into the blank expression she'd become accustomed to wearing. "You're here to ask me stupid questions, aren't you?" she asked.

"Not per se." Selena took a couple steps forward. "You're deluding yourself, and that's a problem."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about this mask you wear. You're not fooling anyone, Karr, and you know it."

"So what?"

"So, it's a problem. You need to step back and start dealing with the pain."

"Well, why are you here?"

"I'm here to help you see that." Selena waved her hand over Zenon's head, and the latter could do nothing but lay back in bed, her eyes fluttering closed. The goddess lowered her lips to Zenon's ear and whispered, "Dream, dream of what you want most of all."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Proto Zoa thought more than once of trying to zap Zenon, but each time he denied himself, using a myriad of excuses to talk himself out of it. His zap-pad went off, and he was forced to pull himself to his feet and hunt it down before he could answer it. The zap-pad was in his bedroom, on the bed, and the person zapping him was Margie, of all people. "What do you want?" he asked.

"I think we know how to help Zee feel better, but we need you up here or her down there to do it," she said.

"I'm sorry, did you say Zenon needed help 'feeling better'?"

"Yeah, look, she's in this viral extreme mood and has been for who knows how long. We think it's something to do with you not being in her life anymore."

"So it's my fault?"

"We're clear minor about whose fault it is, but this is what we think about it."

"So what do you expect me to do about it."

"Find a little time to see Zenon and talk to her."

"Why isn't she doing this, then?"

"We tried to zap her before we zapped you, but she didn't answer, which can only mean one thing: she's zwonked."

"So what does this have to do with me?"

"Look, we just want you to come up here, pay Zee a visit, talk to her a little, and maybe she won't feel so viral extreme."

Proto Zoa paused for a second before he asked, "Is that all?"

"Affirmative."

"Is there a time you want me up there?"

"Negative. You come up here when, if, you choose to."

"Alright. I'll be up soon."

"Okay, stellar."

Proto Zoa nodded and hung up, letting his zap-pad flop to the bed. He got to his feet and stretched out a little, amazed he felt a little better. He could take his pod and fly up to the space station and have a hope and a prayer of cheering Zenon up, if what Margie said was true. Shouldn't it be? he wondered.

He walked out of his room and down the hall to the bathroom, where he washed his face. When he returned to his room, he got dressed in record speed and found himself out of Nova Linda and down the slope to where his pod was parked with equal swiftness. He hopped into the pod and spent a minute getting it used to functioning again before he officially took off.

Getting out of the atmosphere was the easy part, but finding Zenon's space station out of all the thousands orbiting Earth was something of a challenge. After about fifteen minutes of searching, all the space stations began to look the same, so he zapped Margie back to ask for directions, which she willingly gave him. With her help, he eventually found the right space station and pulled into the loading dock, where he thanked her and hung up.

Proto Zoa hopped out of his pod and walked down one of the corridors, which led him to a sector. He followed a second corridor down to another sector, and this continued until he was surrounded by college kids rather than older adults.

For a second, he almost didn't recognize the blonde he bumped into, but that changed when she snapped, "Vega omega, what's your problem?"

"Zenon, it's me."

"What the-? Hey." He pulled her into a closet, and she said, "Stop it or I'm turning you in."

"I'm really sorry about this, Zenon, but I came up here to see you, to talk to you."

"I don't need to talk."

"It sounds an awful lot to me like you do need to talk, if not to me than to a shrink."

"Get away from me," she said, pushing her way past him and out of the closet, leaving Proto Zoa quite literally in the dark.

ZZZ

Zenon walked into the cafeteria and took a seat at a table for two in the back, intentionally sitting across the table from Proto Zoa. "I thought you didn't want to talk," he said.

"I've been having a bad day major," she replied.

"Do you feel better?"

"Minor. Why?"

"I did hear you were in something of a funk lately."

"You're the one running around with people from soap operas."

"And you're the one dating activists of obscure causes."

"Not anymore," they both said at the same time, taking both parties by surprise. Zenon lowered her gaze and fiddled with her fingers, and Proto Zoa chewed his lip.

"I'm sorry, for everything," he whispered.

"So am I."

"Zee, I'm here if you need anything."

Zenon looked up at Proto Zoa, and she found herself speechless. After a long moment, she said, "I...I'm not hungry. I think I'll go and do some homework."

"Alright. My offer still stands."

"Okay."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Margie, Nebula, and Zenon met in Zenon's room, and she asked her two friends, "What exactly did you two want to happen when you asked Proto Zoa to come here and talk to me?"

"Well, we both know you miss him major," Margie said, "so we thought we'd get him to come up here and talk to you."

"You're bumming us both out major here," Nebula added. "Face it, Zee, you like Zoa."

"Yeah, so what?"

"So, you like Zoa, and he likes you. Haven't you heard this last song of his?"

"What's that gotta do with anything?"

"Just listen to it. Pay attention to the words." Nebula walked over to Zenon's stereo and inserted a chip. She pressed a few buttons and a slow song, accompanying Proto Zoa's distinctive voice, filled the room. Zenon closed her eyes, allowing the words to flow over her, and she sank to her knees, tears flowing down her cheeks. When the song ended, she wiped her eyes and got to her feet.

"Why?" Zenon asked.

"You get it now, Zee?" Nebula asked. "He likes you. He misses you."

"Zee, that's why he's up here," Margie added. "Just give him a chance."

"I already did," Zenon whispered. At her friends' questioning looks, she recounted what happened in the corridor and later the cafeteria. Margie nodded in ascent and Nebula tilted her head to one side for a second.

"Okay, that's a good start," Margie said.

ZZZ

Dasha sat cross-legged on the couch, listening to her parents discussing the issues, when she found herself saying, "You have a piece of history in that box over there," and she gestured to the crate in the corner.

"Oh, you saw that?" Judy asked with a laugh. "It's so faded I can't make out a thing except the date, but it was supposed to be your birth certificate."

"Standard adoption procedure," Commander Plank added. "They send every new adopting family one for that particular child."

"Did it say anything about my parents?" Dasha asked. "I mean, do you remember if it did or not?"

"It listed your mother as some woman named Black Dove, father unknown."

"What kind of name is Black Dove?"

"She chose it for herself, dear. It was part of what she did with her life," Judy said gently.

"Well, she picked it, so we're not allowed to judge that part," the commander added, returning his attention to the evening news. "No one wants us judging others, anyway. All this political correctness floating around."

"Oh, okay." Dasha slumped back against the couch, and no one spoke another word on the subject.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Proto Zoa walked back to the loading dock, hopped inside his pod, locked it behind him, and got as comfortable as possible. He turned on the pod's stereo, playing his own music until he fell asleep. Again, his mind was haunted by images of Zenon, and he lapsed in and out of consciousness several times before his body decided to wake up in the middle of the night. The stereo was still on, but the chip had long since finished playing, so he turned it off.

His pod felt unusually large and empty, but he closed his eyes and waited for sleep to come, which it eventually did.

ZZZ

Dasha leaned back against the wall of the corridor, watching the people pass her by. She checked her watch, determining that her parents were about fifteen minutes late, and she turned to press the button which opened the front door. Before her hand reached the button, however, she was grabbed from behind and a strongly scented cloth was pressed over her nose and mouth.

No matter how much Dasha struggled against her attacker, he proved stronger, and soon, her vision faded to black, and the last thing she remembered was the sensation of her falling.

ZZZ

Zenon's zap-pad beeped just before she walked into class, so she took a few steps down the corridor and answered. "We've looked everywhere," Judy said quickly. "Have you seen Dasha?"

"Dasha?"

"She's missing."

"Dasha's missing?" Zenon ran a hand through her hair and muttered, "Vega omega."

"Please tell me you might have a clue about where she might be."

"Sorry, Aunt Judy, but I'm clear minor. Unless... Any chance she's been kidnapped?"

"But who'd want to kidnap Dasha?"

"Anyone who had a use for her, I guess."

"Thank you." Judy hung up, and Zenon put her zap-pad back in her purse.

Class went off without a hitch, but Zenon was itching to meet up with Margie and Nebula during lunch. She did have a plan, despite what she told Aunt Judy, but the question was, could it be done in a manner which could yield results?

The musings on this question which carried her through class and on into lunch were interrupted by Margie waving a hand in front of Zenon's face and saying, "Hellooooo, Earth to Zenon."

"What? Oh, yeah. I...yeah."

"Zee, are you in comprehension mode minor or something?" Nebula asked. "What's wrong with you?"

"Dasha's missing," Zenon whispered, looking down at her tray.

"Oh, yeah, Daddy was telling us about this, something about making an announcement."

The girls' conversation was interrupted, as with the rest of the noise in the cafeteria, by Commander Plank stepping on a table and clearing his throat quite loudly. "As we're hoping many of you know by now," he began, "my daughter Dasha Plank is missing. Anyone with any information is instructed to come forward immediately, and we've already heard claims that Dasha has been kidnapped. As I said, anyone with information is instructed to come forward immediately."

Instantly the cafeteria erupted in a buzz of questions, and even Nebula and Margie joined the questioning. Zenon slumped back in her chair for a second before deciding to dump her tray and walk back to her dorm room.

"Zee?" Zenon stopped in her tracks, just after she stepped out of the cafeteria and into the corridor. She turned to face the speaker, and Proto Zoa added, "I'm...I'm sorry about...about what happened."

"Zoa, don't."

"What? I can't express empathy?"

"It's not that. It's just...this isn't your problem, it's mine. Dasha's my cousin."

Proto Zoa reached out to touch Zenon, but he stopped himself and let his hand fall back to his side. "Zee, do you want me to walk you back to your living quarters?"

She spun on her heel to face him, a distinct expression of shock on her face. "D-dorm r-room," she whispered, "and I can get there myself."

"Alright."

Zenon turned another one hundred eighty degrees and walked off down the corridor, and Proto Zoa couldn't bring himself to move.

ZZZ

Dasha flexed her face a little upon coming to, and she found that her mouth was covered with duct tape. Gradually, she could feel that her hands were bound with rope behind her back. She opened her eyes, and she could see the outline of a man in a chair with his legs crossed. He uncrossed his legs and leaned down, ripping the tape off her mouth, and after she recoiled, she asked, "Who are you?"

"You don't recognize me?" he asked. "I thought you would, since you were at my competition, not as a contestant, of course, but still present."

"Who are you?"

The man got to his feet, waved his hand, and a light came on.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Margie had zapped Zenon while she was pacing back and forth in her dorm room. "What's up, Marge?" she asked when she answered her zap-pad.

"We think we found a break major," Margie replied. "Meet us at the command center."

"Okay." Zenon hung up, put her zap-pad in her purse, and was out of her dorm room almost thirty seconds after Margie zapped her. She got to the command center about fifteen minutes later, to find Margie sitting at the computer with her father and Commander Plank behind her, staring at the screen. Zenon walked over next to Margie, and the latter pressed a button.

Zenon recognized the sector as the one which the Plank living quarters was a part of. She also recognized the blonde girl walking back into the Plank living quarters as Dasha, but the part that surprised her the most was the man who grabbed Dasha from behind and struggled with her until she was unconscious and yet still managed to hide his face from the camera as he struggled with and hauled Dasha away.

Without a second thought, she stepped outside and fished her zap-pad out of her purse.

ZZZ

Proto Zoa was surprised to hear his zap-pad go off while he slouched in the driver's seat of his pod, but he answered nonetheless. "Oh, hello, Zenon."

"Zoa, Dasha's definitely been kidnapped. We found security video to prove it."

"They still use video on the space station?"

"That's not the point. The point is that we need to figure out where she's been taken and wheter or not she's in danger mortis."

"Where would she have been taken, do you think?"

"I dunno, but I don't think she's still on the spay-stay."

"So that leaves Earth."

"Yeah, but Earth's gigundus extreme."

"I wondered if you were going to say that or if I had to. It reall doesn't narrow our search field."

"So what do we do? How do we find her?"

"I think I can get some assistance for us from the man of a thousand connections."

ZZZ

Lester pressed the button on his transmitter and gave his generic answer, "Lester."

"Lester, I need you to do something for me," Proto Zoa said.

"Zoa, baby, how you been?"

"That's beside the point right now. As I said, I have a task I'd like you to complete for me."

"Shoot, baby."

"Lester, is there any way you can get me a list of recent shuttles which have arrived on Earth?"

"Pods included?"

"Pods included."

"How recent?"

"Within the past forty-eight hours."

"Okay, I'll see what I can do and get back to ya, okay?"

"That sounds great. Thank you so much."

"You're too good to me."

"You're one to talk."

"Well, I gotta get to work. I'll let you know what I find as soon as I find it."

"Great, thank you."

Lester hung up and pulled out his computer. After he logged on, he entered a few queries into multiple search engines before he finally found a promising link.

ZZZ

Dasha couldn't help but gasp when the light in the room flickered on. The white-haired man before her absolutely towered, even as he knelt before her and she could get a good look at his face. "Numbar?" she asked.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Selena floated through the empty corridors of the space station, turning corner after corner until she found the loading dock, where Proto Zoa slept in his own pod. She slipped into the pod and rested a hand on his forehead, where she easily saw what he'd helped initialize on Earth, at Zenon's insistance.

Having found what she needed, she slipped out of the pod just as she entered, maintaining her etherial form, and she floated out the loading dock into space and down to Earth. A good portion of the population was asleep by then, but as she floated down to Los Angeles, she noticed more than a few office lights still on. She floated through the office buildings until she found Lester's office, which surprised her by being in his own apartment.

Lester's eyes were bloodshot, but he tirelessly scanned the screen of his computer. Selena slipped up behind him to get a glimpse of what he was examining, and she understood. Without a word, she slipped out of his apartment and up into the air.

ZZZ

Zenon tossed and turned in her sleep, seeing images of any horrible fate which might befall Dasha while she was kidnapped, trapped somewhere, either on the space station or on Earth. At one point, she sat up in bed, covered in a cold sweat, and she checked her zap-pad. The night had otherwise been uneventful, so she lay back down in her bed and rubbed her eyes.

As her body decided it wouldn't sleep, she slipped out of her bed and walked out of her dorm room, walking down the corridor and checking every room she could think of. Soon, this expanded beyond the space station's college to the space station as a whole.

Finally, she walked into the loading dock and tapped on the windshield of Proto Zoa's pod. After a few minutes of harsh tapping, she finally stirred him, and she opened the door, asking, "What?"

"I checked everywhere up here. I'm sure of it. There's no doubt now she's on Earth."

"I thought we figured that out before. I've got Lester on it right now."

"Okay, so we're well on our way to finding her, we hope."

"Zee, perhaps you should go back to bed. It's five in the morning space station time."

"I know, but I couldn't sleep."

"Oh, well then. I still think you should go back to bed, though, whether or not you have to skip class to do that."

"Zoa, are you crazy major?"

"I'm just worrying about you, is all."

"Zoa, I'll take care of everything."

"I'm sure you will, but I just want to make sure you're alright."

"Thanks," Zenon said with a smile. "I better get ready for the day." She walked out of the loading dock and back down to her dorm room.

ZZZ

The words on everyone's lips were each a different version of "Dasha Plank's been kidnapped," especially in the cafeteria over dinner, when the schoolday was complete. Only Zenon found she was incapable of saying anything, even to Margie and Nebula, who sat across the table from her.

Eventually, Nebula asked, "Zee, you look so maxed out major. You get enough sleep last night?"

"Dasha's on Earth," Zenon rasped, still staring at her tray. "I'm sure of it."

"Oo-kay," Nebula said, exchanging a confused and freaked out glance with Margie before forking a bite of food.

"Zee, I thought with Zoa being up here it would be so fabulo for you. Maybe it's this Dasha thing," Margie said.

"Sensitive minor," Nebula whispered as an aside to Margie.

"I'm just trying to make it all make sense, because it's murky major right now."

"I think that was the point," Zenon rasped again. "He kept his face away from the camera, so he had to know where it is."

"Cetus lapetus, that's a clue major," Nebula said suddenly. "How many people on Earth know where all the spay-stay's eyes are?"

"Vega omega," Margie said, her fork falling from her hand and clattering on the table and her jaw hanging slack. "What if it's someone we know?"

"What if it's someone who knows Dasha?"

"Then it's viral extreme," Nebula said, raising her eyebrows at Zenon in a serious expression.

"Neb's right," Margie added. "This is horrible extreme, and we don't even know where to start looking."

"Zoa does." The two other girls fell silent and exchaged a glance before looking back at Zenon, and she could tell they were both fairly surprised. "He has someone looking right now."

"You think this'll work?" Nebula asked.

"I told you it would be fabulo," Margie said with a grin. Her grin faded, though, as she said, "Just, not in the way I expected."

"Neb, if this doesn't work, then we're out of options, and you know how inky that is."

"So we put our faith in him?"

"We put our faith in Lester."

"Lester?" Margie and Nebula asked at the same time.

"Proto Zoa's manager."

The girls nodded in ascent and returned to their trays.

ZZZ

Dasha immediately fought back, trying to get herself free, and Numbar pressed a foot to her abdomen. "Just do what I tell you and you just might get the chance to go free," he said.

"What do you want?" Dasha asked through gritted teeth.

"Quite simply, I want you to send samples from both of us to a testing facility to determine whether or not you are my daughter."

"If I am?"

"If you are, then you will join me on Mars when the project is complete, and I have to admit, I see quite a nice life for you."

"And if I'm not?"

"If you're not, as the case likely may be, then I will determine whether or not the results were fabricated. If they are, you will die, and if they're not, you will walk away free, provided, however, that you don't tell anyone about what I've done."

"You won't get away with this."

Numbar knelt down and hissed in Dasha's ear, "I already have." When he got to his feet, he added, "Besides, I know you have questions, being a foster child and daughter of a prostitute." Dasha returned to her struggle with renewed force, but the ropes burned her wrists, and the ones she'd recently discovered around her ankles seemed to constrict the harder she fought. Numbar laughed and returned to his chair, crossing his legs so that he was just as he was when Dasha first woke up. "You've been given your options. Now, you have twenty-four hours to make your choice." With that, he got to his feet and walked out of the room through the only exit Dasha had managed to get a glimpse of.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

With the rising sun's light falling on his computer screen, Lester rubbed his eyes and pressed a button on his transmitter. "Hello?" Proto Zoa asked.

"Zoa, baby, what a night, but I just couldn't stop looking. I think I finally found something," Lester replied.

"Is it of use to us?"

"Well, there were a lot of pods Earthbound, but only one that left for Space Station 015741 the night before."

"Well, who does it belong to?"

"It's a private pod, and real high-end, too, but I couldn't tell much beyond that."

"I think we can take it from there. I just need the model number and make of this pod."

"All I got's the model number and pod ID."

"Even better. You're stellar, Lester."

"Uh, thanks, I think."

At Proto Zoa's signal, Lester rattled off the pod ID and model number, and he could hear scratching sounds on the other end of the transmission line, and when he finished, the scratching also finished. "Thank you, Lester," Proto Zoa said.

"This mean I can get some sleep."

"By all means. You've earned it, in my opinion."

Lester ended the transmission and closed his eyes, instantly lapsing to sleep in his chair.

ZZZ

Proto Zoa leapt out of his pod and rushed down to the cafeteria, which, as he expected at that time of the morning, was crouded. He stood little chance of being noticed beyond as a late arrival, but he made a straight beeline for where Zenon sat, fiddling with something she must've found on the way over. "Zee, I have a lead," he said brightly, handing her the paper.

She looked up and examined the paper. "What are these?" she asked.

"Model number and pod ID for the pod we suspect spirited Dasha away from the space station."

"So, you think we can use these?"

"If not to find Dasha's kidnapper, perhaps an accomplice who can tell us who the kidnapper is."

"Think this'll work?"

"Well, we won't know until we try, so let's. Come on."

"Well, I have nothing better to do." Zenon followed Proto Zoa down corridor after corridor until they reached the command center, and he knocked on the door.

"Well, what do we have here?" General Hammond asked when he answered the knock at the door. "Ah, Ms. Karr, Mr. Zoa, what brings you two here?"

"We think we have something which can help us find Dasha," Proto Zoa said, and Zenon handed over the paper, watching the general's expression as he examined it. "Do you think it's useful?"

"What is the history behind you obtaining this information?" Proto Zoa recounted everything he told and learned from Lester over the past several hours, which was stretching into the realm of days. General Hammond nodded where appropriate and when Proto Zoa finished, he added, "In that case, then I think it will be very useful."

Proto Zoa and Zenon exchanged glances, both mixes of shock and pleasant surprise, and the general led them inside. General Hammond met with Commander Plank, relating to him everything Proto Zoa had told him, and the commander's eyes widened as he examined the model number and pod ID on the paper.

"Well, let's find this pod," the commander said, turning to the computer.

ZZZ

Dasha rolled over onto her back and took a deep breath, telling herself to be a little more rational. She swung her legs up over her head, giving her hands a little bit of space, and she began to work her hands over her legs, adjusting position whenever necessary. Eventually, her legs dropped to the floor, and her hands were in front of her. She pulled at the ropes around her wrists with her teeth, but the knots were tighter than she previously thought.

Someone tapped on the door, and Numbar said, "Don't think you're going to escape that easily, Dasha. Remember, I need you around still."

"Numbar, I'll do what you want," she said, "on one condition."

"I knew you'd come around, but I expected this. What's your condition?"

"I want my proverbial one call from jail."

ZZZ

Zenon and Proto Zoa stood over Commander Plank as he entered the model number and pod ID in a search engine and selected the only result that appeared on the screen. The link led them to a profile with a very familiar, yet very unexpected, heading.

"Numbar?" Zenon and Proto Zoa asked at the same time, both jaws hanging slack.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

Numbar opened the door and asked, "Do you want me to finish what you started, or will I leave that to you?"

"I figure you tied me up," Dasha said, "so you know how to untie me, too."

"Alright, then." Numbar quickly untied the rope, and Dasha's wrists were free. He handed her his zap-pad, but he stood over her as she pressed a button.

ZZZ

Zenon's zap-pad went off, and she said, "Hold on, I think this might be important." She took a few steps away from the group and answered her zap-pad, to none other than Dasha. "Dash? Dash, where are you?"

"It's Dasha?" Proto Zoa asked, taking a step forward.

"I told Numbar I'd do what he wants, if I got in touch with you, and he's watching me right now," Dasha explained. "I have to do what he wants, or I could die."

"Dash, where are you?"

"I dunno, can't say. I was hoping you'd find me."

"We will, Dasha."

Zenon could clearly see Numbar gesture to Dasha, and the latter said, "I gotta go now, Zee. Please come find me."

"We will. Promise."

Dasha hung up and Zenon turned to face the others, especially Proto Zoa. "We need to go find her."

"Hand me your zap-pad. We'll trace the other with it," General Hammond said, holding out his hand toward Zenon. She handed him the zap-pad, and he hooked it up to the computer and ran it through a program neither she nor Proto Zoa had seen before. The program popped up an address.

"Isn't that Lester's apartment building?" Proto Zoa asked. "One room under his?"

"You know the place?" the general asked.

"I'm fairly certain. I'm also fairly certain I can find it if I had to."

"You just might," Zenon said. General Hammond handed Zenon her zap-pad back, and she and Proto Zoa moved toward the door.

"Keep us up to date," Commander Plank said after them.

"Absolute major," Zenon replied.

ZZZ

When Numbar took his zap-pad back, Dasha untied the ropes around her ankles and got to her feet for the first time in what felt like, if not forever, then almost too long. She turned and followed Numbar out of the bare room to another, more furnished living room. He walked out of the door of the room, Dasha at his heels, and he continued to lead her down stairwell after stairwell until they reached his pod, and she hopped in right after him.

The pod took off, and Dasha adjusted her position in the passenger's seat and stared out the window at the everchanging scenery.

ZZZ

Zenon hopped into Proto Zoa's pod, in the passenger's seat, and stared straight ahead. Proto Zoa gently pulled the pod out of the loading dock and asked, "Zee, is something wrong?"

"It's...complicated."

"How complicated can it be? Someone or something hurt you, and you're not talking about it for whatever reason. All I want to know is, what's wrong?"

"Why do you care? You're the one running around with actresses from soap operas."

"And you're the one running around with activists of obscure causes. If my memory serves me, we've already been over this."

"It doesn't matter anyway. You do whatever you want no matter what anyone else says, so don't bother trying with me."

"Because I care about what you think, Zenon. I want to make you happy."

"That's what Sage said, that's what Greg said, and that was what Orion said, too, so don't go there with me."

"I'm sorry," Proto Zoa whispered, returning his attention to the space in front of him. He maneuvered the pod effortlessly into a slow descent through Earth's atmosphere, and Zenon looked out the side window, struggling to pay attention to the changing scenery.

"Why'd you do it, Zoa?" she finally asked.

"Why did I go on a date with the girl from Of All The Worlds? I should ask you why you kissed Sage, but if you insist, I'll answer your question first."

"I do insist."

"Then I did it because I thought you no longer wanted to be with me."

"And I kissed Sage just because it just felt right at the time. So, we both have our answers, and as far as I know, we're both single, so what happens now?"

"What do you mean, what happens now? We find Dasha, that's what happens now."

"I know that, but what about between us? I mean, are we friends, are we enemies, acquaintances? What are we?"

"Let's just worry about this later, alright?" Proto Zoa gently glided the pod through the streets of a city Zenon quickly realized was Los Angeles. "We do what we came down here to do, and then we can think about us. Do we have a deal?"

Zenon chewed her lip for a minute and then sighed. "Yes, we have a deal."

"Well, then. We have some work to do."

ZZZ

Dasha hopped out of the pod with the samples Numbar handed her, not bothering to ask how he got them, and she walked into the testing facility. "May I help you?" one of the ladies in white coats asked as she approached Dasha.

"I'd like to have a paternity test done," Dasha replied, handing over the samples. "I brought the samples already, and I hope you'll be able to use them."

The lady took the samples, thanked Dasha, and told her she'd have the results as soon as she could, and Dasha walked out of the facility, only to find Numbar leaning against his parked pod with an expectant expression on his face. "Five days," was all Dasha said to him.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

Just as Proto Zoa parked his pod in the lot of the apartment building, another pod parked right next to his, and Zenon gasped, watching silently as Dasha hopped out and ran down the sidewalk the second she had the opportunity. It took Zenon a second, but she hopped out of Proto Zoa's pod and ran after her cousin. She was followed closely by Numbar and he was followed equally closely by Proto Zoa.

Dasha ran straight ahead until she reached a park, where she turned a corner and ran into the grove of trees the park offered. Zenon ran into the grove for a few feet before she had to stop to catch her breath. "Dasha," she called. "Dasha! Dasha!"

Numbar grabbed Zenon from behind and pressed a laser to her temple, and she froze instantly.

Proto Zoa stopped in his tracks at the sight of Numbar pressing a laser to Zenon's head, ready to fire. After a second of pure shock, a strange rage passed over him, and he lunged for Numbar, grabbing his wrist and pulling the laser away from Zenon's skull.

Numbar managed to get himself free, laser in hand, and asked, "You don't want to kill me, do you?"

"Anything I can to keep her," Proto Zoa hissed.

Zenon stared at him for a second after she pulled away, but before Numbar noticed, she took off into the grove to find Dasha.

ZZZ

Dasha crouched down behind one of the trees, barely able to see the struggle taking place at the edge of the grove. Zenon ran toward her, and she felt a thrill of hope, one strong enough to tempt her to run out to meet her, but something about the action seemed unsafe.

Her cousin reached the tree and knelt to meet her and whispered, "It's okay, now. I promise, Dash."

"Zee," Dasha whispered. "Is he gonna kill me?"

"Not unless I'm in danger mortis first."

The cousins chuckled, got to their feet, and Zenon carefully led Dasha out from behind the tree.

ZZZ

Numbar looked around for a second like a crazed man before taking off down one of the walkways of the park, and Proto Zoa rolled his eyes before setting off into the grove, just as Zenon and Dasha made their way out of the grove. "Well, she's with us now," Zenon said, "but it's in completion mode minor."

"Of course it's not finished yet, since Numbar's running away a free man," Proto Zoa said.

"He's getting away?" Dasha snapped. "After all he did?"

"Look, we're gonna figure this out," Zenon said to her cousin. She turned to Proto Zoa and said, "Can we talk? Like, in privacy mode extreme?"

"Of course." He led her down the walkway, and he waited until they were both sure Dasha hadn't followed them before he asked, "What do you want to talk about?"

"What was that about with you and Numbar?"

"What was what?"

"That whole 'anything to keep her' thing. Vega omega, it sounds like you're perpetually jealous or overprotective major or something."

"You're one to talk, with the way you reacted to that one date I went on several months ago."

"Well, I'm sorry, okay, but what does it mean?"

"What are you talking about?"

"What aren't you talking about, I should ask?"

Proto Zoa looked away from Zenon and rested his hand on his hips. He licked his lip and sighed heavily. "Zee, you don't understand-"

"Damn right major I don't understand."

"No, let me finish. I can't watch you walk away from me. I don't know how to handle it, and I'm so afraid of losing you, I...I couldn't... Zenon, I'm so sorry."

Zenon took a few steps toward Proto Zoa and wrapped her arms around his neck. He rested his hands on her back and closed his his eyes. "Zoa, I'm so sorry I was so mad at you. I didn't know you...I didn't know you felt this way."

"It's not your fault, Zee." Zenon pulled away from Proto Zoa and smiled softly up at him. He smiled in return, and he looked back over his shadow back at Dasha, who still sat on the park bench, leaning back and watching the people walk by, for a second before returning his attention to Zenon. "Now, do you think we should get her back home?"

"That depends on if she needs to still do things here," Zenon replied.

"We'll soon find out."

"Got that right."

"So, Zee, why are you so jealous, exactly?" Proto Zoa asked as Zenon took a few steps toward Dasha.

"We'll talk about this later," she snapped. "So, Dasha, is there anything important major you need to take care of on Earth?" she asked when she reached her cousin.

"Not right now, but I need to com back in five days to pick up the DNA test results," Dasha replied.

"DNA test?"

"I had to, otherwise I'd be killed."

"Okay, then." Dasha got to her feet and followed Zenon and Proto Zoa back to the latter's pod.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

Dasha stretched out her neck as Zenon landed her pod in the original streets of Los Angeles, and she hopped out as soon as it was safe. She walked into the testing facility and introduced herself to the woman at the counter, who instantly remembered who she was and walked into the back room for a moment. Dasha took a moment to look around before the lady returned and handed her a small envelope. She thanked the woman and walked out to Zenon's pod, hopping inside.

Zenon took off and set a course directly for the space station, and Dasha pulled a chip out of the envelope and examined it closely before putting it in her zap-pad. It took a moment for the chip's content to load, but she had to read the first page of the z-file three times before it registered in her brain.

"Numbar's my father?" she asked.

Zenon felt herself almost lose complete control over her pod, but she managed to wordlessly pull the pod into the loading dock.

ZZZ

Proto Zoa paced slowly across his living room with his zap-pad in hand. "Well, Zee, it looks like we've got another set of problems on our hands," he said, "what with Numbar being Dasha's father and all."

"Yeah, well, here's the thing," Zenon replied. "Numbar's not the best of guys, and he threatened Dasha with death if she didn't get a genuine DNA paternity test done."

"I know all that, but what about what happens now?"

"What do you mean what happens now?"

"I mean, isn't there some law that she has a choice now between her biological father and her adoptive family?"

"Well, she has to know both of them the same for that to even work."

"Did the test mention anything else, do you know?"

"She's mute major."

"I see. Now, Zee, why exactly were you so jealous of me with another girl?"

"Why were you so jealous of me with other guys?"

Proto Zoa stopped his pacing and sighed. "Zee, it's complicated, but cliff-notes version, I like you. A lot. You're the most amazing person I know, and I'm so afraid I'm going to lose you, that you're going to leave me."

"That's rudicrous, Zoa."

"It doesn't matter if it is or not. It's your turn to answer my question."

"I haven't really had a lot of luck with guys, since none of them want to be with me if I don't sleep with them, so if I'm with you, then, you wouldn't want to be with me after a little while and you'd cheat on me."

"I'm sorry, Zee," Proto Zoa whispered. "It's farthest from my mind to hurt you. I care about you too much for that."

"That's what they said."

"But they didn't mean it. I'm sure of it."

"And you do?"

"Zee, I care about you. You're my best friend, and perhaps more than that. I dunno about that just yet. It's just...I love you."

"Wh-what?"

"I-I love you."

Zenon chewed her lip and lowered her gaze, wondering if she should respond. "I love you, too, Zoa," she whispered, "but I need this to mean something, and I dunno if it can."

"How do you mean?"

"I just...dunno if we can be together in any meaningful way."

"Is...is there something you need of me?"

"I need it to be real. Don't just say you love me for a week or a month and then decide you don't want to say that to me anymore."

"I don't know if I could do that to you, Zee. All I've wanted since I first met you was to be with you, but I knew I couldn't until you were an adult. I still want to be with you, because I feel like you see beyond my face and my music into something no one else sees."

"Zoa, I miss you, I need you. You're the first person I think of when I need someone."

"It's going to be alright, Zee. I promise."

Zenon felt herself blush, and she smiled a little. "I can feel a storm major coming, since Numbar's still free, so I just might need you soon."

"Zap me when you do, and I'll zap you every day otherwise."

"Okay."

ZZZ

Zenon hung up, lay her zap-pad on her nightstand, and lay back on her bed, closing her eyes. Even when everything else seemed normal, she could feel something rushing through space, charging everything it could reach with a strange energy akin to electricity.

Proto Zoa was right. A storm was coming.


End file.
